the Return of Rick Murray
by Erica St. Evergreen
Summary: Rick Murray comes back to Degrassi, naturally he makes enemies, but he also makes a new friend. Maybe repeating the sophmore year won't be so bad. OC &Rated T for language
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

A familiar face walks onto Degrassi school ground.

This familiar face is wearing a beret over his dark brown stringy hair and round wire rimmed glasses over his disturbing blue eyes.

"Nice hat, faggot!" yelled a random student, yanking the boys beret off and throwing it at his feet.

"Ah, yes," said Rick Murray, looking down at his dirt-covered hat. "Nothing has changed a bit, glad to hear it." He picked up his hat, shook the dust off it, and stuffed it in his pocket.

Although, despite his humorous demeanor, the closer Rick got to the glass doors of Degrassi, the more nervous he got. He didn't know how the likes of, say, Paige Michaelchuck and Hazel Aden, would take his return. Even the kid with the backwards baseball cap who had just threw his beret to the ground seemed to hate him, even _before_ knowing what he'd done to a former Degrassi student.

_Terri McGreggor_, thought Rick. He had visit her every day in the hospital while she was in her coma. That is, until Terri's dad caught wind of it and told the nurses and the doctors to never let "That vile, lowlife, piece of scum" to step foot in his daughters hospital room. Rick never did find out what became of the beautiful Terri McGreggor, whether she woke up and continued model, or. . .

Rick shook his head. "Don't think pessimistically," he said to himself. "Always optimistic." That's what Rick's therapist told him, although, Rick wasn't sure is "pessimistically" was actually a word. He always told himself to look it up, but never found the time.

_Because Rick social calendar is just packed!_

Finally, Rick finally stepped into through the glass doors of Degrassi and took in the atmosphere like a sponge first dipped water. He took both hands and grabbed ontot he strap of his messenger bag and took a deep breath. Mrs. Myrna's mystery meat lingered in the air and Rick smiled. _Degrassi really doesn't change_, thought Rick again with a mental smile. And despite his nerves being bad before, he was actually looking forward to being here again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One**

Rick thought maybe he spoke too soon when the Backwards Cap Kid was the first thing he saw once he opened his eyes again.

"Hey man," started the BC Kid. "Sorry about your beret, did you leave it outside?"

"Uh. . ." Rick pulled out a handful of fabric which was his beret. "No."

"Im Jay Hogart, you new?"

"Uh. . ." Rick thought about the technicalities to this question. "Yeah."

"Cool. Office is that way, newbie." And Jay shoved him in the direction where the office would be. "Later, geek!"

"Geez, he's aggressive," said Rick to himself as he headed to the office.

And before Rick knew it he was being slammed into the locker.

"You think _Jay's_ aggressive?" growled Spinner Mason into Rick's face. "Did you forget about me then? What are you even doing here?"

"Spinner. . . Uh, nice to see you."

"Its not nice seeing you, _at all_, freak," said Spinner with another slam to the locker. "You think you can just show up here and everything will be okay?" SLAM! Ricks glasses fell off his face. "That everyone will forgive you!?" SLAM! Rick winced in pain.

"Now that's enough, Mr. Mason. And I will see you in my office after I give Mr. Murray here his schedule," said Mr. Raditch.

"Th-thank you, Mr. Raditch. I-I thought I was a goner there, for a, for a second." said Rick, picking up his glasses. He gulped.

"Don't worry," said Mr. Raditch, leading the way into his office. "I promise that won't happen again."

"Dude, Spinner, why were late to class?" asked Craig Manning, between classes.

Spinner was at his locker, siwtching out his books. He was still pissed about the string of detentions he got for harassing Rick before school had started. Spinner now had to tell his manager at the Dot why he was going to be late for the next two weeks.

"I was in Mr. Raditch's office," answered Spinner.

"What'd you do now, Spin?" asked Jimmy Brooks, walking up with Hazel Aden under his arm.

"Nothing that wasn't wrong. Just tried to beat the shit out of Rick."

"Rick!?" exclaimed Craig.

"Rick's back at _Degrassi_?" said Jimmy.

"Seriously?" asked Hazel, "Shouldn't he be attending Bardell, isn't that where all the psycho's and rapist freaks go?"

"Were you sure it was Rick, Rick Murray? Why would he even show his _face_ here?"

"That's what I was trying to find out." said Spinner, darkly. But then his scowl turned into a smile as his girlfriend, Manuella, Manny for short, Santos came strutting up to him with that cute little dimpled smile on her face. Naturally, Hazel rolled her eyes at her and Craig kinda stiffened at the sight of her. Hazel felt that Manny was trying to take Paige's spot in dating Spinner and claiming herself to be to captain of the Cheer Sqaud. In Craig's case, after the whole abortion factor, Craig kinda lost respect for her. Craig felt that she was childish for getting an abortion, and was even a little hurt when she still went through with it after Craig told her that his mother almost had an abortion when she was pregnant with him.

Remembering this made Craig walk away as soon Manny embraced Spinner. Manny ignored the fact that Craig was disgusted by her and that Hazel was, obviously, jealous of her.

"Who is Rick? I thought he was new?" asked Manny.

"No, he's not," snapped Hazel. "He's the psycho that put our friend Terri in a coma."

Manny's eyes widened with shock. _So that's what happened to Terri, _she thought. Manny had heard rumors about Terri leaving school, but she thought it was because Terri wanted to become a full-time plus size model--not some kind of vegetable. Now that her thought process was in full swing, she thought she had saw this Rick character around school before last year. but never thought twice about him.

"Well, does Paige know?" asked Manny.

Hazel laughed harshly. "Oh, because you care how Paige feels nowadays?" Hazel pulled Jimmy's arm off her and stalked off. Being Paige's best friend, she had to tell her that Rick was back. That is, if Paige already didn't find out for herself.

While Spinner was at his locker, telling his friends that Rick was back. Paige was at her locker, fixing her make-up in the mirror that hung in the door of her locker. She had Media Immersions next and that _gorgeous_ student teacher, Mr Oleander, was going to take over the class again. Paige absolutely needed to look her best, and not only her best, but the most mature that she could ever look so Mr Oleander didn't she her as a student, but as a woman. Paige took a step back to get the full effect of her look when her face dropped at what she saw in the mirror.

Rick was desperate, absolutely _desperate_ to find what happened to the only girl he ever loved. It had been tearing him up inside not know what had became of her. Rick knew there was only one girl that would know for a fact what happened to the beautiful Terri McGreggor.

Paige. And Rick knew that it couldn't be her gorgeous reflection that was making her face drop.

_Here goes nothing_, thought Rick, as he approached Paige. Rick ran his fingers threw his hair before saying, "Uh, hi there. . . I know you can't be happy to see me-"

"You're right. The sight of you just turns my stomach," replied Paige threw her perfect teeth.

"I just. . . I just wanted to know about. . . about Terri. Is she-"

"Is she what? Okay? She would be if you didn't put her in the hospital in the place."

"I know, please, I just need to know if-"

"You don't need to know shit," Paige said defiantly.

Rick flinched when Paige practically spat that in his face. "Fine. . . I'll just leave you alone."

While Rick was walking off Paige yelled, "Don't start with me, start with leaving Degrassi, psycho!"

"So you know he's back then?" Hazel asked her best friend, Paige, as she approached her locker.

"Yeah, that bastard had to the to ask me what happened to Terri," gritted Paige.

"He would know if he hadn't put her in a coma."

"Yeah, well, I'm going to get Rick kicked out of this school if its the last thing I do."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Two**

As Rick walked on the way to his next class, he felt like everyone was staring at him. Had the word gone around that fast that he was back? Did these kids even know him, or what he did to judge him? Even before the Terri Incident, all Rick wanted to do was to make it out of high school alive, but now with people like Spinner Mason out to get him, he didn't think he was going to make it past sophmore year-again.

Jay made another opportunity to shove him again and call him a queer, which made Rick wonder if Marco ever had to go threw this or was it just him. Rick made it to class right before the bell rang. He took a seat the last seat left in the middle of Mr. Armstrongs Geometry class and saw that he was sitting inbetween Toby Issacs and Emma Nelson, with Manny Santos sitting behind her.

Rick hated the fact that he was doing his sophmore year all over again, they could have atleast given him a better math class. Geometry? Really? Who did they think he was? Liberty Van Zandt? He would passt his class, easily.

"Hey, Em," whispered Manny to her best friend.

"You know how Armstrong is about class disruption, what do you want?" Emma whispered back as she took notes down for this weeks lesson. Manny never wrote notes down, she just copied them from Emma after school since they lived together now at Emma's parents house.

"This is super important, Em, _you are sitting next to a psycho_," Manny said in a stage whisper. Even Toby had heard Manny say that.

Rick tensed up as Emma looked him up and down. Even though Rick had already copied down all the notes Armstrong had posted at the time, he started scribbling in his notebook. Writing whatever came to his mind just to distract him from the tense stare that Emma and Manny were currently giving him. Finally, Rick looked up and gave them a bashful smile, hoping that they would stop giving him the death stare.

Instead, "What are you looking at, freak?" said Manny.

Emma nudge Manny for being so rude, but she wasn't sure why. Until Manny realized that Mr. Armstrong had just heard her last statement, "Santos, you just earned yourself a detention with Mr. Raditch this Friday."

Manny rolled her eyes and popped a piece of gum in her mouth. "Thanks to that freak," she mumbled to Emma.

"Manny, he didn't even do anything," said Emma.

"He came back, that's what he did."

Rick kinda smiled to himself at the thought of Emma Nelson sticking up for him. And she was even kinda cute. But he knew that her sticking up for him wouldn't last long, nothing good ever lasted long. Rick was sure within the next week the whole school would know what he did and would hate him. Again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Three**

A couple days went by and Rick got into full swing of his classes with nothing more than dirty looks from the likes of Paige, Spinner, and Manny. It was lunchtime and Rick went to his locker to get his sack lunch from home. He couldn't bear to endure the looks from Degrassi Royalty in the cafe, nor could he face public humiliation, so he just sat outside on the steps and ate his bologna sandwich and drank his vitamin water in peace.

Spinner was sitting with Manny, Jimmy, and Marco Del Rossi at lunch. After Hazel blowing up on Manny the other morning, no one was surprised when she decided to sit with Paige, Ashley, and Ellie instead. Spinner would occassionally scan the cafeteria, looking for that one empty table with Rick so he can spit a spitball at him, or that bespeckled freak to walk by with his tray in hand so he can trip him. But Spinner was in no such luck.

"Give it up, Spin," said Marco. "We know who you're looking for, its obvious he's not in here."

"I just want to thank him personally for getting me a detention for the next week and a half," said Spinner. "That's all," added Spinner, innocently.

"Yeah? Well when you see him, thank him for me too," said Manny bitterly.

Spinner scowled. "He got you a detention with Raditch too?"

"Yeah, he was staring at me in class the other day and Armstrong heard me call him a freak. So I have a detention tomorrow," explained Manny in a bitchy tone.

"Thanks sucks," said Jimmy. "Hazel said that Paige told her how he came up to her asking about Terri."

"Seriously?" asked Marco.

"Yeah, Paige is trying to find a way to get Rick kicked out of Degrassi."

"Seriously?" repeated Marco, "Raditch isn't going to go for it, obviously. He did let Rick back in the school."

"Paige should talk to Emma," said Manny. "Emma's into all that protesting and civil movements and such. She'll know of a way to get Rick kicked out."

"That," said Marco, standing up, "is actually a good idea. And as Student Body President, I should tell her."

"And he's off!" said Jimmy as Marco scurried to Paige's table.

Lunch was almost over and Rick went back inside the school to throw his lunch away.

"What the _fuck_?!" he heard a girls voice exclaimed. Rick turned around to see a girl having trouble with her locker.

Rick wanted to help, but didn't know if she heard about him or not.

The girl saw him. "Hey, man, can you help me with this? I'm new and obviously don't understand basic Canadian tecnology."

Well, that answered Ricks question. Rick approached the girl and said, "Uhm, what seems to be the problem?"

"Look, I just got here, kay? This is my first day, shit, really, my first _hour_ at this place. I overslept and came in late. So I get my schedule and everything and I'm like, sweet. But then, I come to this," she gestured to the locker, "and can't get it open. Totally ruins my fucking day. Nothing will make it better because I am being thwarted by a metal contraption used for holding dead trees."

Rick was so confused. "I'm sorry? Look, I'm sure if you tell me the combination, I can get it open for you. Degrassi's an old school so it really depends on how you wiggle the lock."

The girl seemed amused by this. "Oh yeah? Do you like to wiggle... whats your name again?"

"Rick. And I don't wiggle."

"I'm Kellen Holcomb. My combo is 16-24-03."

"Nice to meet you," said Rick shortly. He was too busy concentrating on Kellen's combo and her "metal contraption" to actually make conversation with her. Honestly, he hadn't been this close a girl in so long, any girl would either be afraid [Emma] of him or a complete bitch to him [Manny/Paige/Hazel]. Seeing as he hasn't even really been in contact with the human race besides playing World of Warcraft.

_12-right, 24-left, 03-right, a wiggle aaannnddd_

"Holy shit, you're a God!" exclaimed Kellen as her locker popped open. She threw her arms around Ricks neck. The bell rang, Kellen let go of Rick and threw her backpack in her locker. "Whats your class? I'll walk you there."

Rick genuinely smiled. Who _is_ this girl? "You? Walk me to class?"

"Shut the fuck up. I owe you. I have Mr Simpson, who do you have?"

"Mr Simpson."

"Alright, let's go then."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Four**

It was afterschool and Manny, for once, wasn't attatched to Spinner. Instead, she was hanging out with Emma at her locker.

"So, don't ask me why, but Paige is gonna talk to you," said Manny, putting on her pink lipgloss in Emma's locker mirror.

"Manny why--"

"Ah, ah. I said don't ask why. Just know," she smacked her lips to test the glossyness of them and continued, "that it has to do with Rick getting kick out."

"You didn't tell Paige that I would get Rick get kicked out of school, did you?" asked Emma with a sigh.

"Oh no. I told Marco you were into protests and civil movements and he told Paige. So. Paige might try to recruit you."

"I know that everyone hates Rick, but I really don't want to get involve, its just gonna get messy."

"Yeah, well get dirty then," said Manny. "I'll see you at the Dot later." and she strutted off.

Emma shook her head. She really didn't understand her best friend anymore, especially since they rarely hung out nowadays. With her dating Spinner and hanging out with Marco. Emma closed her locker door and headed to the library to get started on her homework while she waited for Snake to finish up with his work. When she got there, she realized a Student Council meeting was going on, she blushed, mumbled her apologies and headed to the corner of the library. She grabbed a book out of her bag and started to read and try hard not to eavesdrop on the meeting, which was obviously about Rick.

"So, I know some of you have heard the rumors that Rick Murray has come back--" started Marco, when the door to the library opened and Rick came in.

Rick waved nervously and said, "I thought, I could, uh, try to get into some school activities?" He looked around the room and noticed that maybe he shouldn't have came after all. But he couldn't help it, he wanted to start fresh, clean slate, and what other way to do that than to join the student council?

Marco walked up to Rick, turned him away from the council. Someone threw something at the back of Rick's head making him flinch. He turned around to see if he could maybe guess who did it.

Alex Nunez shrugged her shoulders. "Whoops, my pen just flew right outta my hands, what do you know?"

"Alex, please," said Marco.

"Why? Did someone stop him from hitting on chicks?"

_Who is she? She wasn't even here when _that_ happened._ _How does she know?_ thought Rick.

_Wow, word really does get around fast_, thought Emma as she watched the scene in front her over the bridge of the book she was reading.

Marco turned to Rick. "Maybe you coming here wasn't such a good idea. . ."

Rick nodded once, held his strap of his messenger bag, and walked out with his head down. He heard someone mutter freak as he pushed on the door to leave.

"I can't believe he had the nerve to show up," said Ashley Kerwin, not even trying to disguise the disgust in her voice.

This is when Emma spoke up. "I don't understand why everyone hates him."

"Of course not," said Ashley. "You never really knew anything now, did you?"

"Apparently word doesn't get around to you, princess," said Alex, taking Ashley's defense. "That freak, put a girl in a coma. But of course, nothing can happen in Princess Nelsons perfect world, where she ventures off into the forests and sings with the deer and rabbits."

Everyone in the council laughed except Liberty and Marco. Liberty was trying to keep her composure for the fact that her Student Counsil meeting was more or less getting out of control. She gripped to podium until her knuckles practically became white, she looked at Marco for help. People always listened to Marco for some reason, Liberty never really understood why. She was the organized and consistent one, Marco just played things by ear, hoped everything went right, and spazzed out alot.

"Guys, guys, not the place," said Marco. "Emma, maybe you should, uhm, get back to your book so we can finish our meeting without blood being shed."

Emma stood her ground, she didn't like everyone thinking she was some perfect little Snow White. She looked Alex dead in the eye and said, "Maybe instead of sitting around, throwing pens and being childish, you should step up, actually _be_ Vice President, and talk to Raditch about Rick getting kicked out."

"Really, guys--" said Marco, but Alex shushed him by raising her hand, and returned Emma's death stare,

"Yeah, and if that doesn't work?"

"Then you can come see me and maybe I'll help you." Emma grabbed her books and headed out the door. Emma hoped Snake was ready to go now. With the way her stomach was feeling she felt like she bite into the witch's poisoned apple.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Five**

After Rick attempted to be apart of the Student Council, and failed, he started to head home. Rick hated walking home, even if he only lived two blacks down from Degrassi St. _One weeks, and I get my permit_, he thought, with a smile on his face. HIs smile quickly faded when someone jumped on his back.

"My hero! Whisk me away from this terrible kingdom that is Degrassi Community School!" exclaimed Kellen.

"Merlin's beard, you scared me," said Rick, holding onto Kellens legs so she wouldn't fall off. A reaction he made without thought process, once he realized how close he was to her, he let her go.

Kellen stopped walking and stared at Rick with disbelief. Rick thought it was because he dropped her, but, "Did you _seriously_ just say 'Merlins beard'? Do we live in _Hogsmeade, _Rick?" and exploded with laughter.

Rick just kept walking. Bad enough he got kicked out of the library, now the only girl that would talk to him was making fun of him because he got taken by surprise. Rick smacked his forehead, thinking,_ really? Any normal person would've sworn, not quote Harry Potter, jesus, what is wrong with you? _ He picked up his past in walking.

"Rick! Rick I was kidding."

Rick didn't listen to her, he just turned the corner and bumped right into Jay and Spinner.

_He would've seen them coming if he wasn't too busy looking at his feet._

"Well, look who it is!" exclaimed Jay, taking his cigarette out of his mouth. "Weren't you looking for Rick, Spin?"

"Shit," mumbled Rick.

"What's wrong, Rick?" asked Spinner. "I just wanted to thank you, that's all."

"Th-thank me? You have no reason to thank me," said Rick.

"Oh but I do, thanks to _you_, I get to spend the next week and a half with Raditch."

"Spinner," Rick said as calmly as he could, "that wasn't my fault."

Spinner laughed increduously. "If you hadn't came back, it would've never happened!" Spinner shoved Rick, Rick stumbled over his own feet and fell to the ground. Spinner was ready to pounce, tear him to shreds. But Jay stopped him,

"Now, now, Gavin," said Jay, mockingly. "Let's not have all our fun at once."

Spinner kicked Rick in his side before stalking off. Jay stood over Rick, who clutched his side in serious agony. "Man, I'm sorry about that. Spinner, I don't know if you noticed, tends to lose his temper. Do me a favor? Never start smoking," said Jay, flicking ashes onto Rick and then walking away, laughing.

It was when he was absolutely sure that Jay and Spinner were gone that he started crying. Half of it was because he hated himself for being so weak and pathetic. Why couldn't he stand up to Spinner and Jay? Why couldn't he hit either of them like he use to hit Terri?

_I've changed, that's why. I don't lose my temper anymore. Can't any _see_ that?_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Six**

Rick made it home after he found the will power to get up a finish his walk home. His hair had ashes in it, his face was tear streaked [as well as his now scratched up glasses] and had bits of gravel on it, and his side ached something terrible. He expected to see his mom in the living room waiting for him when he shuffled into their house, but was more or less out of luck. Rick didn't want his mother to see him like this anyways. Not that it would matter; she was probably in her room, barred out and listening to Frank Sinatra. _And besides_, Rick thought, _she would beat the dogshit out of me if she found out what happened_.

Rick trudged on upstairs and he indeed heard Frank Sinatra droning from under his mother's doorway. He knocked against the door twice to let his mother know that he had made it home. In response she slurred, "Richaaard, how was school? Why are you home so late?"

Rick ran his fingers threw his hair and saw the ash fall down. _Great, carcinogen dandruff_, he almost chuckled to himself. Then he remembered how that ash got there in the first place and suddenly didn't find it funny anymore.

"Uhmm, school was fine, mother. And I stayed after to try to join the student council, but they were, uh, full."

"Nonsense! Want me to call Misterrr Raditch and see what he can do for you?"

"No, thank you. I might just join Photography club or something, I'm gonna get in the shower."

"Dinnerrr will be ready when you get out."

_Great another xanex influenced dinner. Can't wait._

Rick headed toward his room, dropping his bag in the doorway. He started to unbutton his shirt, wincing when had to take it off from his shoulders. Rick turned on the light so he could get a good look at the damage Spinner Mason had caused.

"Hah," exhaled Rick, in disbelief. The spot where Spinner had kicked him and barely started to bruise. It was only a bit red, although, Rick didn't doubt it would turn a shade of purple in the morning. Rick started moving his torso from side to side then cried out in pain. _Okay, so maybe it doesn't _look_ so bad, but it hurts like hell_.

"Richarrrd, are you okay?" slurred his mom from the other room.

Honestly, he was surprised that she was still conscious enough to hear him. "Yes, mother, I'm fine," he shouted back. Rick finished getting undressed, grabbed a towel and headed to the bathroom for a nice hot shower.

---

Emma was brushing her long blonde hair in the mirror, waiting for Manny to show up to head to the Dot. She kept replaying the scene with Alex in the library. _Were they really going to go to Raditch? Was he really gonna kick Rick out after letting him back in? Obviously he had proved to Raditch that he changed so I don't get the big deal. If Raditch trusted him, shouldn't the student body? And what if Raditch doesn't kick Rick out? Am I really going to help them protest against Rick?_

Just then Emma heard a crash coming from the other side of her room.

"What the--"

"Jesus Christ, Em, when did you rearrange your room?" exclaimed Manny. "I'm use to landing on your bean bag chair, not your frickin' dresser."

"Normal people use the front door, Manny" said Emma. "Are you okay?"

"Yeahh, I'm good." Manny shook her mane of black hair and said, "Soooooo..."

"Sooooo what?"

"Marco texted me all about how you stood up to Alex at their Student Counsel meeting today after school."

Emma blushed. She kinda wanted to forget about that. "Heh, that was no big deal, really."

"Its SO a huge deal. Everyone's going to be talking about it tomorrow."

"Great," said Emma, unenthusiastically.

"Don't be such a Debbie Downer. Think about the awareness you would be spreading. You'd probably get the DCS Nobel Peace Prize or something."

Emma shook her head. "You're being over-dramatic. Again."

"Well, I am the one for drama," said Manny checking in Emma's full length mirror to see just how low her low-rise jeans were going. She pulled them up a bit, _but just a little bit_, because she's Sooooo over that slutty phase. "So, you ready to go to the Dot?"

"Yeah," Emma said, tying her hair up that she just spent the past thirty minutes brushing into a pony tail. Manny started headed towards the window. "Manny. We're not sneaking out, front door."

Manny scoffed and followed Emma upstairs out to the living room, then the front door.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Seven**

While Emma was brushing her hair, waiting for Manny to show up at her house. Kellen was lurking the Degrassi Community School website for _some_ form of communication to contact Rick by. She felt so bad for making fun of Rick and his Harry Potter-ness, she like Harry Potter too! She really did. So Kellen thought, she could call, email, IM, MySpace, FaceBook, whatever Rick, grovel via chosen communication, then bribe him with the bakery good of his choice. She had a knack for baking, although she hoped he liked brownies, because with the recent move, that's all she had to work from.

It was when she went into the student catalog when she realized that she didn't know Rick's last name. _How fucking rude!_ She thought, _I told him my full name, he couldn't return the fucking favor? _Kellen sighed and narrowed her search down to the sophomore class. She scrolled and scrolled through names and was surprised to find that Rick was the only Rick in the sophomore class. "Mission A-fucking-ccomplished!" exclaimed Kellen. She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Rick's number. _Booooooop, boooooop OMFG pick up the phone!_

"Hello?"

"Rick! It's me, Kellen."

"Sorry, but how'd you get my number?"

"Does it matter? I'm sorry for being insensitive to your fascination with Harry Potter and its sayings; I will bake and feed you brownies, truce?"

Rick could never catch up with Kellen, so he agreed to the truce.

"So you wanna come over and make those brownies? This new house has a sick kitchen that I'm just dying to mess up with all sorts of cake batter," said Kellen, hoping Rick would accept.

"Uh, sure. Where do you live?"

"Down the street from this place called the Dot?"

_Everyone lives down the street from that place _thought Rick. "Yeah, uh, I can just meet you there," said Rick. _And pray no one from Degrassi will see me._

"Sweet deal, I'm leaving now!" exclaimed Kellen, snapping her flip phone shut. Kellen walked over to her mirror and saw the ginger-hair, pale blue eyed girl looking back at her. The reflection showed Kellen with nearly perfect make up and the elegantly dishelved hair that Max Bemis was singing about in one of her favorite songs. She threw on a teal colored v-neck shirt over her pale purple one for the hell of it and headed out the door with her earphones in and Girl Talk blaring in her eardrums.

Rick had just gotten out of the shower when Kellen Holcomb had called. With a towel draped around his waist and water dripping from his brown hair. Although, he didn't really realize this until Kellen said she was leaving as soon as she got off the phone with him. He quickly dried off and scurried to find clothes to wear.

She was waiting for him inside when Rick finally arrived at the Dot about twenty minutes later. Kellen was sitting there; looking threw her iPod and nodding her head in time to the music. Rick knew that everyone from Degrassi would probably be here tonight which immediately made his stomach turn. He grabbed onto the handle, took a deep breath and walked in.

_Is it me? Or is everyone staring at me right now?_ thought Rick. He ignored all the stares and walked up to Kellen, tapping her on the shoulder, praying they could just get out of here before--

Alex yanked him by the collar of his plaid button up. "Why are you here, freak? Trying to find another victim?"

Kellen, who had just pulled out her earphones and turned around in time to see the altercation, pushed Alex away from Rick. "What the fuck is your problem, bitch?"

Alex ignored her. "So, Rick, you didn't tell her then?'

"Tell me what? Is this crazy bitch your girlfriend?"

"Oh God no, I don't even know her. Can we just go? Please?" plead Rick.

Spinner came back from taking out the trash and sees the scene unfolding before him. "Shit, I thought I just took out the trash. Alex, get that psycho out of here."

"Hey, get the fuck off him! He didn't do anything to you!" screamed Kellen, she turned to Spinner. "What's the big deal?"

"Who _are_ you?" asked Spinner laughing.

Alex shoved Rick out of the door of the Dot with people applauding. Rick fell at the feet of Manny Santos and Emma Nelson as they were approaching the Dot.

"Hi, Emma, Manny," said Rick, trying to get himself off the ground and be casual about it.

"Ew, freak, watch where I'm going. I don't need you messing up my shoes," said Manny, stepping over Rick. "Come on, Em."

"You guys are ASSHOLES!" Kellen shouted as she left the Dot. She saw Rick pick himself off the ground. "Awh, Rick, are you okay?"

"Perfectly fine, that was no big deal, really," replied Rick, reassuringly. Though that fall to the ground made his side scream with pain. "Which way do you live?"

Kellen tried to look Rick in the eye, but he kept looking at his shirt, that was covered in gravel. "It's down this street here."

It was quite while they were walking to Kellen's house. Kellen wanted to know why that shit happened to Rick back there and if it happened often, but she didn't know how to bring it up. She kept opening her mouth ask, but she didn't know what to ask. Was she just suppose to be like _Hey Rick, why does everyone hate you?_ And just what the hell did that bitch mean by "You didn't tell her?" _Tell me what? What am I suppose to know? _

Kellen shook those thoughts out of her head. Rick seemed like a cool guy, if not a bit. . . nerdy. What trouble could he have possibly gotten into?


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Eight**

The Dot was humming with gossip about what just went down. Alex kicking Rick out, Spinner calling Rick trash, that weird dressing ginger girl sticking up for him. Who does she think she is anyway? Mother Theresa? Please.

Paige and Hazel saw the whole thing go down from their table in the corner of the Dot. Paige was just texting Marco with the deets when she saw just who she's been looking for for the past couple of days.

"Emma! Over here!" Paige called, waving Emma over to her and Hazel's table. She hardly noticed Manny Slut-os waltz over to Paige's leftovers, also known as Spinner.

Emma looked over at Paige and Hazel. Manny said, "I told you she would try to recruit you. Tell me everything that happens!" She hugged her best friend and walked off the sit in front of the part of the bar the Spinner was at.

Emma sat down at Paige and Hazel's table. Paige got straight to business.

"So, Marco told me all about your little stunt in the library."

_Again,_ thought Emma, _word really does get around fast._

"So, do you wanna help us get Rick kicked out?" asked Paige. "I'm sure with stepdaddy's connections and your activist ways it could totally happen."

"I don't understand what Rick did wrong, I mean, obviously he's changed if Raditch let him back in Degrassi."

Hazel spoke up. "He put our friend, Terri, in a coma last year after hitting her for months. And besides, Degrassi is a democracy, not a dictatorship. We should decide whether Rick should stay or not."

"Look, I told Alex and Marco that they need to talk to Raditch before doing anything too extreme."

"And what if that doesn't work? What should we do then?" asked Paige.

Emma looked at the two upperclassmen. She could hardly believe that the Queen Bee's of Degrassi were asking _her_ for help all because she was into activism and the renegades that made a difference. _Maybe there's a way to get Rick kicked out, maybe I could make a difference_, thought Emma. But yet, she still couldn't see what the harm in Rick attending Degrassi could be, she didn't get why people hated him so much.

"I don't know, I could think of something," said Emma. "But, uh, whatever did happen to Terri? Is she. . .?"

Paige looked down, sighed heavily, and ran her fingers through her dirty blonde hair before answering. "Yeah, she died. And it's all Rick's fault."

Rick knew it would only be a matter of time before Kellen asked him what that scene in the Dot was all about. He could see her open her mouth like she wanted to ask, and then close it changing her mind from the corner of his eye. Rick didn't know what to do if and when she finally asked the question, and it was turning his stomach into knots.

They finally arrived at Kellen's house and you could tell she had just moved in. There were boxes and newspapers strewn all over the place. Rick wondered how and where they were gonna make brownies.

"'Cuse the mess, as you may know, me and my aunt just moved here," said Kellen, carelessly dropping her hobo bag to the floor. "Kitchen's this way. I am sooo stoked for cupbrownies."

"Uh," Rick tripped over a box, "cupbrownies?"

"Yeah, Cupcakes and brownies in one. It's basic math, Rick." Rick followed Kellen into the kitchen where she grabbed all the ingredients that she needed. Once she got the cupcake pan out from a box, she decided that now would be a good time to ask, "So, what did that girl mean back at the Dot?"

"Alex? Uh. . . I don't know how she found out. . ."

Kellen handed him a couple eggs, some vegetable oil and the brownie mix. "Here, mix that and then I'll add my little touch to them. You're gonna wanna make love to me after you eat these cupbrownies."

Rick looked scared.

"Not literally, Rick, geez, I'm not some slut-tastic skank." She tied her layered ginger hair into a ponytail. "So, what do you mean, found out what?"

Rick was shaking as he cracked the eggs. "Found out about me and Terri, she wasn't here when... when we first got together." Rick poured in the brownie mix and vegetable oil in the mixing bowl while Kellen scrutinized him. As energetic and outgoing as Kellen could be, she was also very patient, and Rick knew that she would wait all night for him to explain himself if need be.

"Rick. . . You're shaking. . ."

_Here goes nothing_. "Terri McGreggor was a girl I fell in love with last year. I'm not sure. . . if she felt the same way about me. . . Maybe she did, and I didn't notice. . . because I was different back then. I was. . . jealous and angry alot while we dated. I. . . I, uh, I hit her a few times. I always felt bad. . . when I hit her, I would buy her a new dress or a new necklace or take her out and make it up to her. But then one time. . . I took it too far. . . I didn't mean to. . ."

Kellen could see how badly Rick was struggling to tell his story. She put a hand on his shoulder, slightly rubbing it to comfort him. To let him know that she's not scared of him, that she doesn't think he's a psycho or anything like that. That she's here for him. "Rick, its okay. . ."

"It's not okay!" shouted Rick, snatching Kellen's hand off his shoulder. "It won't _ever_ be okay. I put Terri in a coma! We were at the park with her friends, Paige and Hazel and Jimmy and Spinner. They _never_ liked me; they never thought I was good enough for Terri McGreggor, the It-Girl, and the model. And I was so mad, Kellen, _so_ mad that she wouldn't stick up for me. That she wouldn't tell them how good I treated her. I figured if she loved me nearly as much as I loved her, she would defend me. But she didn't, she just let them make their snide comments and insult me. So I punch Paige's car and left."

Kellen had taken a few steps away from Rick when he snapped on her. She could see in his eyes that anger and frustration that he had felt at the time. This wasn't the shy, nervous Rick she met a week ago, this was the Rick that Degrassi probably knew a year ago.

Rick continued. It felt so good to talk to someone about this! Sure, he took anger management classes and saw a therapist, but they never asked him what happened that day, they never asked about his feelings for Terri or anything like that. They just saw him as another disturbed kid who snapped on his classmates.

"Terri followed me into the woods, shouting for me to come back. That she was sorry for how her friends were acting. I kept telling her to leave me alone, to give me space and time to cool down. I really didn't want to hurt her again, I really didn't. I promised her that I would never hurt her again. But she kept insisting I come back and join them and act like nothing happened. . . It all happened so fast. The next thing I knew, she was on the ground, bleeding from the back of her head. . . And when Paige came. . . I knew it was all over for me."

Rick looked up at Kellen, tears running down his face, a nervous smile playing around his lips. Not that he was happy about what he'd done to Terri or how everything turned out. He just felt relieved, like the weight of the world was just lifted of his shoulders. "I've changed, Kellen, I'm not that guy anymore." He sighed. "I just can't seem to convince my peers that. . . Not that they give me a chance to anyways."

Kellen threw her arms around Rick and hugged him tightly. Rick was taken aback, but gave into the hug anyways. It felt good to feel the warmth and the security that the hug provided. Rick's mom never hugged him; he couldn't even imagine her cradling him as a baby.

Eventually they fell out of the hug. Kellen wiped away her tears and said, "So, now that's done with. How about these cupbrownies?" She smiled.

Rick smiled back. Rick knew that not everyone would be as understanding as Kellen, but as long as she was his friend, he knew that everything would be alright.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Nine**

Emma had a taste of what popularity felt like when she sat with Hazel and Paige at the Dot that night. While Manny was flirting with Spinner, Emma was talking to Marco, who arrived at the Dot soon after Paige texted him, about how to approach Raditch with the Rick situation. Cute, popular boys came up to their table and talked to her--talked to her! Not Manny, who between the two of them always got the attention of guys. One of them even bought her a soda.

It all seemed like a blurry, distant dream while Emma was laying on her back, hair sprawled across her green flowered-patterned pillow. Manny was laying next to her, head on Emma's shoulder while she told Emma the sweet things Spinner said. Finally, Manny rolled over and propped herself up on her elbows.

"So, tell me everything that happened with that evil Paige," said Manny.

"Manny, she's not _that_ bad."

"Please, remember that time she used JT?"

"Anyway, she just wants me to think of a way to convince Raditch to get kicked out of school."

Manny stared at her.

"Oh, that was pretty much it, she asked me about myself and if it were awkward that Snake was my stepdad," continued Emma. She knew that Manny wanted to know if Paige said anything about Terri.

"Are you sure that was it?"

"Yeah, Manny. I wouldn't lie to you." It was the first lie she ever told her best friend. _Why am I protecting Paige? Who is she to me?_ Emma held her stare, pleading for Manny to trust her.

Manny nodding. "Okay, I believe you," she said softly. "You were never the bad friend in our relationship anyways." Manny smiled wickedly. "I heard Paige is having an affair with Mr Oleander."

Emma's jaw dropped. "Manny!"

"I, for one, don't blame her. He's something gorgeous."

Emma hit her with a pillow and they started laughing and hitting each other with pillows.

_Every boys dream. Two attractive girls in a pillow fight._

Paige was curled up next to Mr Oleander, Matt when they aren't on school grounds, in a late night movie seeing some cheesy romantic comedy. Matt had texted her just as she was leaving the Dot:

**miss u. wanna see a movie?**

Of course she wanted to see a movie. Especially if it were with him. She ditched Hazel, Jimmy, and Marco and headed towards to cinemas. She nearly got in an accident when she tried to drive and add on a few lashings of mascara at the same time.

While driving, she thought about what she had told Emma, and if she could trust Emma to keep that secret about Terri being dead. Only her, Hazel, Jimmy, and Spinner knew what happened to Terri and they made a pact not to let anyone know. That, and Terri's father didn't want Terri being the subject of gossip and asked them to sign a contract saying not to talk about it. He asked the parents to allow their childern to sign the contract, wanting his daughter to rest in peace and her memory to go untarnished. Paige just had to hope that Emma didn't say anything to that slut Manny.

It was when they were at a diner in the next town over when Matt noticed how stressed Paige was.

"Babe," he said, pushing a stand of her blonde hair behind her ear, "what's up? You seemed stressed out."

Paige half-smiled. "It's nothing, baby, just typical high school drama," she sighed. "That's all."

Matt caressed her cheek with his fingertips. "'Cause I thought it could be something that _I_ was doing to you."

Paige was appalled. Matt? Doing something wrong? Not a chance. "What?"

"You know, having to keep us a secret and having to leave town so we can be together like a proper couple," Matt looked down into his glass. "I can't give you, what those other guys can give you, you know?"

Paige grabbed both of his hands. "Look at me, really. You're amazing. Don't think that just because I can't walk down the hallways holding your hand that you're doing something wrong," she leaned over and kissed him. "You're doing everything right. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Sorry, I just. . . wanna make sure you're happy," claimed Matt bashfully. That crooked smile of his playing at his lips. Paige practically creamed herself. She was turned on by practically everything this guy did.

_Well that's the magical charm of an older man._

Although, now Paige thought about it. Maybe there was one thing he could do for him, thinking back to what she said to Emma. About her "stepdaddys connections" well, doesn't _Matt,_ I mean, _Mr Oleander_ have those same connections? Even if he is a student teacher, he's still _a teacher_, he could say something to Simpson or Raditch about Rick, couldn't he? Matt did want to make her happy, after all, and nothing, at the moment, would make Paige more happy was if Rick was out of Degrassi and out of her life for good.

Their food came and they dug in. Paige, watching her figure, got a grilled chicken caesar salad with low-fat dressing, Matt opted for a burger and fries. While Paige was picking at her salad, she thought of a way to bring up the favor without seeming so immature. Maybe she would just have to wait until the time was right, _better not to bring it up so soon, anyways, _she thought.

They made small talk here and there, ate, paid for the check, and tipped their waitress much to Paige's dismay. That skank kept looking at her boyfriend, the waitress was lucky to get anything at all from them, but of course, Matt was such a gentleman.

"I was a waiter my first year in college, I know how that can be," he explained.

_No excuse_, thought Paige. Instead, she arm linked with him and walked out the door.

Matt walked Paige to her car and pulled her close to him. "Paige, if you need anything, let me know." He kissed her forehead. She returned the kiss on his lips. Eventually, they let go of each other and went their seperate ways. Paige got in her car and rested her head on the steering wheel. She felt so stupid because she couldn't ask him to talk to Raditch about Rick. If it were anyone else, she could guilt trip them into it, but Matt, she couldn't ask him for anything.

_Maybe because he already gives me everything, maybe I'm falling for him. _


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: this was supposed to be posted last week, along with the new chapter of_ No One Here Gets Out Alive_ and_ Stay Out of the Light_ but I forgot. My apologies. Also, sorry if there isn't enough Rick in the story at the moment. I want to profile other characters and relationships so when I write the shooting everything will come together._

_Oh, and pleaseplease__**please**__ check out my new Degrassi fanfic, titled_ Manny and the Devil_. Thanks! and a SUPERHUGE thanks to NightCrawlerLover for always reviewing!_

_-Everest_

**Chapter Ten**

A couple days went by since the fiasco at the Dot. Everyone more or less ignored Rick, with the exception of Jay, Spinner, and Jimmy, who played small pranks on him whenever the opportunity presented itself. Rick now knew not to wear a hat of any sort because it would most likely end up in the dumpster or a pile of dirt, he also knew to watch where he was going, and which hallways were least populated between classes. If it weren't for Kellen, he possibly would have snapped by now.

It was during lunch when Kellen asked about Terri again.

"What happened to her?" she asked, licking the icing off of a cupcake she had baked last night. Kellen liked asking about Terri, everytime Rick talked about her there was something in his eyes that sparkled. She hoped a guy would have that sparkle in their eye for her one day.

"To Terri? Uh, I don't know," responded Rick. "When her dad found out that I was visiting her, he told the nurses to never let me in her room again. I never knew what became of her, you know?" He bit into the cupcake Kellen had offer him at the begining of lunch. Rick thought it was weird that everyday she brought in some bakery good she baked, but he never complained. Whatever she baked was just so damn good.

Kellen nodded. "You don't think she. . . died, do you?" Kellen asked this carefully, she didn't want to make Rick mad.

"No," Rick said firmly. "Everytime I saw her, she never looked like she could be dying. She looked like she was sleeping. There was this one time I visit her. . . I swear, she layed there with this little smile that just made my heart accelerate," Rick sighed. "She can't be dead."

The bell rang, Kellen and Rick headed to the MI Lab for their next class.

Mr Oleander took over today's lessons. As apart of his student teaching, he had to teach the class to see if he was able to control and educated a class of pupils. Paige was in his previous class, he called on her once to answer a question and then more or less ignored her for the rest of the class. He always felt uneasy when Paige was around him on school grounds, Mr Oleander felt like the slightest glance or twitch or anything would give the two lovers away.

Which is why he nearly had a heart attack after class when she unbuttoned her top another button and approached him in the hallway.

"Paige, what the hell are you doing?" he shrieked.

"I have a favor to ask."

"So this is how you try to convince me?!" Mr Oleander looked around to make sure they were the only ones in the hallway, luckily, they were indeed the only ones.

Paige covered her chest, embarassed that she thought that sex was the proper way to get what she wanted. Hadn't she learned her lesson with trying to impress Dean? "Sorry, look. There's this student that all the kids are like, afraid of. I was wondering if you could talk to Raditch about him?"

Mr Oleander laughed. "Who is this? An ex-boyfriend of yours? Want me to give him a detention and call it even?"

Paige scowled at her boyfriend. "No. The guys name is Rick and he's a psycho, he put my friend in a coma and now he's back like nothing ever happened. I want him gone."

"Look, we'll talk about this later, I've got to get to class."

Paige kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. "You're too cute, Mr Oleander," and walked away.

Back to the present, where Mr Oleander was doing attendance. He was having difficulty identifying who was who, but didn't want to ask Simpson for help, so he called out each name. When he reached Rick's name, Rick simple raised his pen above his head and continued talking to the girl next to him. _Why is Paige so concerned about him, he's not really _doing_ anything _thought Mr Oleander. And the girl next to him didn't seem to be so afraid, but then he caught a glimpse of the face Manny was making at Rick, and noticed the whispering and the glares that students sent Rick.

It reminded him of his days in high school, when he was a greasy haired, theatre geek with a bit of acne and who occassionally got stoned. Sure, he had a group of friends when he got high, but they weren't _really_ his friends, just guys who wanted his money. And back when he was in high school, being a theatre geek was not the cool thing to do.

So through out class, Mr Oleander would keep an eye on Rick and try to see if he gave any signs of being the "psycho" that Paige claimed him to be. But no, Rick just sat there, did his work, and occassionally talked to the girl next to him. He even helped Toby with his webpage when Toby got confused with something. Mr Oleander didn't get why this kid frightened so many of his peers. He'd have to get the whole story out of Paige tonight.

The bell rang and everyone grabbed their school bags and shuffled out of the class. Once the room was clear Mr. Oleander approached Mr. Simpson.

"Hey, Mr. Simpson, can I talk to you?"

"Call me Snake, and yeah, whats up?" said Mr. Simpson.

"A student came up to me today, concerned about a fellow student, Rick Murray. Apparently he's dangerous or something," said Mr. Oleander, he couldn't help but to mentally kick himself. He didn't sound professional at all. "I was wondering how to handle a situation like this." Yes, good recover.

Mr. Simpson ignored the question asked and said, "Well this student needs to approach Mr. Raditch, not you." Snake lightly slapped his shoulder. "Good job today, you'll be a teacher in no time," and walked out of the classroom, leaving Mr. Oleander standing there, nervously running his fingers through his hair.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Eleven**

"Come on, Alex, I told Raditch we would meet him right. After. School," said Marco, jogging through the hallway, dragging Alex along with him.

It was Friday and the school Prez and Vice-Prez were _finally_ talking to Raditch about getting Rick kicked out of Degrassi. Although with the confrontation that happened in the cafeteria probably wouldn't help their case.

It was the first time Rick had step foot in the cafeteria. Kellen hadn't brought her usual jackfruit-guava vitamin water and wanted to grab a carton of chocolate milk. Naturally, Jimmy was the one who saw him first-- he always had a keen eye for scoping Rick out.

Jimmy slapped Spinner. "Hey, look who it is, making his debut in the cafeteria!" Jimmy was sitting with Spinner, Jay, and Alex, although he didn't really approve of Jay. He thought Jay was worse than Sean was, but seeing as they all had that common ground with wanting to torture Rick, Jimmy thought that maybe Jay couldn't be _too_ bad.

"Oh boy!" said Spinner, voice reeking with sarcasm. "Let's give him our lunch, shall we? Maybe he's hungry."

Rick and Kellen were walking across the cafeteria to leave when Jimmy and Spinner approached them.

"Make it go away," groaned Kellen.

Spinner ignored her. "Hey Rick, we thought you might be hungry, so we wanted to offer you Jay's lunch, he barely touched it."

Rick lifted up his sacked lunch. "Got it covered, thanks."

"No really, take it." Spinner held out the tray.

"Seriously, guys, we're good. Just get out of our wa--" Kellen was interruptered by Jimmy smacking the bottom off the tray, having the lunch land all over Rick's shirt and Kellen's shoes. Today's lunch special, by the way, was chilli and it looked more like a tomato paste with ground beef. The cafeteria exploded with laughter.

Depending on where you were sitting in the cafeteria you could have said that Rick threw the first punch or Kellen did. Even though they've never really messed with Kellen, she had still had enough. She was tired of them always fucking with him, like seriously? What was the point? What did they gain from this? And Rick? Oh, he was just on his last straw, he didn't want to show his anger but his shirt was ruined as well as his best friends shoes. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?

The result of this fight was Kellen giving Spinner a swollen lip and Rick and Jimmy both had black eyes. Unfortunately, Rick's glasses were broken in the fight and Jimmy's new Sean John shirt was ripped. Mr Simpson and Miss Hatsilakos had to pull the fight apart.

"That bitch gave me a swollen lip!" screamed Spinner, touching his lip, making sure it wasn't bleeding.

"Fuck you, asshole. I've been waiting to give you that since the Dot," Kellen screamed right back.

"Hey Rick, how's it feel to have a girl fight your battle for you?" said Jimmy.

Rick just flicked him off. Jimmy went after him again and another fight ensued.

"Hey! **HEY!** KNOCK IT OFF!" shouted Mr Simpson.

"That's enough!" For someone who was such a bombshell, Miss Hatsilakos sure could seperate a fight.

"Gavin, Jimmy, you two find a way to clean up this mess. Rick, Kellen, follow me," said Mr Simpson.

The bell rang and everyone slowly left the cafeteria, hoping maybe another fight would start. There hadn't been a fight like that since Emma and Alex went at it. And that wasn't even the greatest thing ever seen either.

Mr Simpson was walking Kellen and Rick to the Health Office. He was surprised that Kellen walked off without a scratch, just her hair even more messier than usual and her clothes a bit dishelved. Kellen walked down the hall with her arm around Rick's shoulders and with such bravado that it reminded Snake of Spike back in high school. Mr Simpson shook his head and smiled full of nostalgia. He sighed and asked the two what happened. Rick explained what happened. Once Mr Simpson dropped them off at the heath room, he headed straight to Mr Raditch's office.

_He's gotta do something about this, _thought Mr Simpson_ stuff like this can't keep happening, this school will turn into a battleground._

Back to the present, where Marco and Alex now sit in front of Mr Raditch. He did not look happy.

"So, Marco, Alex what bring you here?" asked Mr Raditch. "Maybe you two can explain to me what happened in that cafeteria today?"

Alex cringed in her seat. She very well knew what happened, but she wasn't going to say that she was more or less apart of it. Fuck that shit.

"Well, Mr Raditch, there was a fight between four students. If I knew what was going on I would have tried everything I could to stop it--"

"But you didn't," completed Mr Raditch. "Four students are suspended for a week now. This bullying has to stop and it has to stop now."

"Mr Raditch, with all due respect, but if that _psycho_--" started Alex.

"Miss Nunez would you still like to be Vice President of your student body? I suggest you watch what you say."

Alex slouched back in her chair. Marco knew this conversation was just going right down the sink. He could hear their argues gurgling down the drain. It was hopeless.

"Mr Raditch, alot of students feel uncomfortable with Rick Murray being in this school knowing what he did to a fellow student of ours."

"What Rick did is none of their concern, it is in the past. This is the last time I'm going to tell you both. The bullying and the violence has to stop now. Or I'll have to be forced to find another Student Body President and Vice President." Raditch pointed to the door. "You may leave now."

Marco felt about 3 centimeters tall when he walked out of that room.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Twelve**

Rick and Kellen walked to Rick's house when they got sent home. The plan was they were going to spend the rest of their could be school day at the park an soak in the warm day. First, though, Rick had to change his shirt and Kellen had to throw her shoes out.

With every step that Rick took towards his front step, he became more and more afraid. He knew his mother would be home, his mom was _always_ home on Fridays. His mom was going to beat the living _shit _out of him once she found out that he had been suspended for a week. He could hear her voice in his head _Haven't you put me through enough without you screwing up, Richard?! No wonder your father left._

Yeah, Rick's dad left, when he was about thirteen, and it wasn't Rick's fault. It was because Rick's father prefered the company of his twenty-six year-old secretary over his thirty-two year-old mother. He didn't even take his stuff with him, just up and left. That's when Rick's mother started getting barred out and such. Its been downhill from there ever since.

They approached Rick's front door and Rick suggested that maybe Kellen should stay outside.

"Fuck that noise, you're house can't be any worse than mine," replied Kellen.

Rick sighed, knowing he could never win with Kellen, he led her in. _Her funeral, I guess_.

As soon as Rick entered his house his mother was shouting. "WHY DID YOU GET SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL? THEY _BARELY_ LET YOU BACK IN AND YOU GET SUSPENDED YOU FUCKING SCREW UP!"

Kellen paled-up and looked at Rick's derranged mother. _No wonder he wanted me to stay outside_, she thought. Rick gave Kellen a pleading look, then rolled his eyes to the staircase, catching on to the hint Kellen ran upstairs, leaving Rick to deal with his mother.

"Mother," Rick tried to say calmly. He was scared shitless, he really was. Sure, she was always drugged up with xanax and oxycotin and God knows what else in her system, but those drugs seemed to fuel her rage and give her super human strength.

"AND WHAT IS _THAT_ ON YOUR SHIRT? DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO EAT WITHOUT SPILLING FOOD?"

"I got in a fight with these guys at school!" shouted Rick. Upstairs, Kellen jumped, she'd never heard Rick get so anger before. "What did you want me to do? Lay there and let them beat the shit out of me?"

Rick's mother swung and made contact with his jaw. How _dare_ he talk back to her? The disrespectful little bastard.

_Holy _SHIT _that fucking hurt!_ thought Rick, he never cried or showed pain in front of his mother because he knew that's what she wanted. To feel dominate over the male population. Rick shoved his mother out of the way, ran upstairs, grabbing Kellen and running into his room.

Rick sighed. "Sorry about that," he said, like nothing happened.

"Rick. . ."

"Yeah?"

"You know, you're always welcomed at me and my aunts place. . ." said Kellen, her voice shaking along with the rest of her body.

"My mother would burn down this house," proclaimed Rick.

"She needs help, Rick. I can tell that she's strung out."

Rick grabbed a Star Wars t-shirt out of his closet and headed towards the door. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom to change, then we can go," said Rick, walking out the room.

Rick came back into the room five minutes later. Kellen was sitting on his bed, bobbing her head to whatever obscure music she was listening too. She really was a pretty girl, Rick didn't know _why_ she hung out with him of all the people in Degrassi. Rick tapped Kellen on the shoulder, she yanked her earphones out and smiled at Rick. "Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah, but we're taking the window, not the front door."

"The fuck? Why?"

"Don't worry, there's a ladder right outside my window. Think of us as robbers making a great escape or something."

Kellen shook her head. "Your imagination never ceases to amaze me, Rick."

Rick opened the window. "Ladies first?"

Kellen laughed and climbed out the window.

About 20 minutes later, Kellen and Rick made it to the park. They claimed their spot under the tree and started laughing about the fight during lunch. Sure, Kellen's favorite ballet flats were ruined, but atleast she got to punch Spinner Mason in the face. God, he was a prick of the first water, he _so_ deserved that punch to the face.

The ice cream truck came by and Rick decided to get them some ice cream cones. Kellen stayed under the tree and looked at her surroundings. There were a whole bunch of moms with their kids, a couple daycares out enjoying the ridiculously warm weather. Kellen then saw a group of kids her age and laughed. _Of course there would be ditchers, do they go to Degrassi?_ thought Kellen to herself. She looked a little closer, she definately recognized one of them, but she couldn't place where she had seen her before. She was about to call Rick over to see if _he _knew who this girl was, but saw that he was waiting in line and didn't want him to lose his spot.

_Fuck, where do I know this girl from? Fuckitty fuck fuck. I _know_ her, who the fuck _is_ she?_

And then she remebered the one time, in MI, when Rick had showed her the girls picture.

_This is Terri,_ Rick had whispered. _She's beautiful, isn't she? I still love her to this very day, Kellen, I really do._

"Oh my God," said Kellen. "That's Terri. . . She's _alive_."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

Jimmy and Spinner sat on the school steps of their Community School after getting suspended for a week for starting a fight with Rick. They weren't super suprised at their punishment, but it still sucked major balls.

"and of course, Jay doesn't get anything but a detention!" exclaimed Spinner. "Oh well, maybe I can pick up some extra hours at work for the next week or something. Y'know, so Mother Mason doesn't freak out too much."

"Yeah... Well, maybe we should just stop picking on Rick. Don't you think its getting a little old?" said Jimmy.

"Hell no. He put our friend in a coma, Jimmy, _a coma_. I'm not stopping until he leaves."

Jimmy looked at his best friend and wondered when did Spinner start building up all this hate in him. Yeah, Rick put Terri in a coma, but it was starting to become old news and picking on Rick was getting a little old. Also, Jimmy had big plans once he graduated and he couldn't keep screwing up in school like this all because some nerd had a bad temper.

Then Jimmy looked at how Spinner had his fist balled up and wondered how long would it be before Spinner snapped.

Rick returned to Kellen with those delicious cherry-pineapple popsicles and an ice cream cone for himself. Kellen's vision was still stuck on the curvy girl with long following dirty blonde hair. She didn't know whether or not to tell Rick that that was her, or just to pretend she didn't see a thing.

Kellen knew she could be considered a bad friend is she didn't tell Rick that the love of his life was standing only a few feet away from him, but she also knew that maybe it was for the best that Rick _didn't_ know that Terri was indeed still alive. She balanced the idea in her head for a few mintutes before finally Rick interrupted her.

"Uh, you okay, Kellen? What are you looking at?"

Kellen's eyes got big. "Nothing! Uh, that little boy just fell down. HAHAHAHAHA."

"Oh, shit, are his parents there, we should go see if he's okay..."

"The kid will be fine, Rick. Its life. When you fall back, you pick yourself back up and move on. And besides, his mom's right there. Everything is okay... Thanks for the popsicle." she smiled bashfully.

"Thanks for sticking up for me back there," Rick looked at his shoes. "I don't know how much more I can take from them, Kellen. It's all becoming too much..." Rick sat down on a swing.

Kellen occupied the swing next to him and hoped that Rick wouldn't be looking up anytime soon to see that Terri was here. "Maybe when we get back to school next week we can talk to Raditch about it, yeah? They can't just keep letting shit like this happen, you know."

"Yeah, but Mr Raditch never listens to me. I think... I think the next time any of them do something to me, I'm gonna have to retaliate so like, none of them will ever mess with me again." Rick said darkly.

And Kellen didn't like that, Kellen didn't like that one bit.


End file.
